Horse Racing Cards & Form Explained

Skill Level: Beginner

Horse Racing Cards & Form Explained

If you are an inexperienced gambler, then one of the best ways of improving your chances of winning is being able to understand racing cards and form. Here we will show you how to read a horse racing card that are displayed in Newspapers and online. Follow all our horse racing betting tips here.

1. The name of the racecourse, in this case, Sandown Park.

2. Is showing you the time of the race, followed by the name and class of the race (in this instance it is a class 1 race.) Flat races are classed from 1-7, and jump races are classed from 1-6. In all cases the lower the number, the better the race. Then we have the group or grade, again the lower the number, the higher quality of the race (1,2 or 3)

3. Is the time of the race, this race is at 15.45.

4. Is showing you the distance the horse will be running. Here the horse will be running over 1m and 2 furlongs. There are 220 yards to a furlong.

5. This is showing what the going of the course is, in this case, the going is Good to Soft. Beware that the going can change at any time depending on the weather, just because the going is Good to Soft at the start of the day, it may not end that way. In the UK there are seven grades of a surface; heavy, soft, good to soft, good, good to firm, firm and hard.

6. This is telling what surface the race is being ridden on; here it is being raced on the turf or grass. AW stands for all weather.

7. Shows you the price money on offer for the winner, runner-up and placed horses.

1. This is showing you the number that the horse will have on its saddle, in this case, the horse would be wearing number 1.
2. Here the race card is showing you the draw the horse has. The draw is the starting stall number the horse will run from. Draws are only used in flat racing, not in jumps.
3. This is the horses latest form in figures. The most recent will always be on the right, any numbers to the left of a hyphen are from the previous season, and a slash is from two or seasons ago. You may also see some letters in the form and they all have their own meaning.
0- Finished outside the top 9
P – Pulled up
F – Fell
S – Slipped up
R – Refusal to race
B – Brought down
U – Unseated rider

4. This is the colour of the owner’s silks worn by the jockey.
5. Very simple this one, it’s the name of the horse.
6. Here this is showing you the age of the horse in years, in this case, 4 years.
7. This is the weight carried by the horse, in this case, 9st7Ib.
8. Here we have the name of the horse’s trainer; here it is R Charlton.
9. The name of the jockey that will be riding the horse, in this case, P Dobbs.
10. Is the official rating of the horse. This has been assigned by the official handicapper. In the case, the horse has an OR of 81.
11. Is showing you the latest odds for the horse. If you are looking online most chance as the markers do, but if you are reading it from a newspaper.